REGION: Official says Nordahl bridge widening should be done by year's end

A state Transportation Department official said this week that the agency should be able to widen a heavily traveled bridge that crosses over Highway 78 in San Marcos by the end of 2012.

With the new Palomar Medical Center West set to open in Escondido east of the freeway in August, getting the Nordahl Road bridge done by the end of this year ---- rather than May 2013, as originally predicted ---- would mean much less congestion for the thousands of vehicles that pass through the area daily.

Gustavo Dallarda, a Caltrans corridor manager, told Palomar Pomerado Health directors during a meeting Monday that bids for the work came in cheaper and faster than expected. The manager said the winning bid was about $9 million.

He said the low bidder, Flatiron Construction Corp., specified it could complete the job in 140 working days. Dallarda said construction should begin in late February, meaning the work would finish in late September, only one month after the new hospital opens.

Dallarda said his estimate of completion by the end of the year includes a little padding for unforeseeable circumstances.

"With 140 working days, plus some time lost due to weather, we should be completed by the end of the year," he said.

Dallarda said Caltrans also expects to finish two Highway 78 widening projects near the Nordahl interchange by the end of the year.

The first project ---- which will add one westbound lane to Highway 78, between Interstate 15 and Nordahl Road ---- has been under way for several months and is set to open this spring. That project also adds a lane to the connector ramp between I-15 and Highway 78 and adds a lane to the Nordahl offramp from westbound 78.

The second project would add two more lanes to eastbound 78 between Nordahl and Woodland Parkway in San Marcos. Construction is about to start on that job.

Mike Shanahan, director of facilities planning for Palomar Pomerado Health, said the news about the bridge work was exciting.

"Obviously we're happy, because that widening can help maintain a level of service through that area," Shanahan said.

The Nordahl-Highway 78 interchange is already one of the county's most congested.

The public has previously expressed concerns that inbound ambulances might be caught up in gridlock trying to reach the new, $1 billion hospital.

A plan to extend Citracado Parkway to Del Dios Highway, which would create a faster route to the hospital from the southeast, is running behind schedule.

The Nordahl bridge carries about 27,000 vehicle trips per day, a number that will only increase once the hospital opens.

However, the hospital is not expected to generate nearly as many vehicle trips as originally expected, because it will have only 288 beds ---- not 400 as originally planned ---- on opening day. A women's center originally planned for the hospital was not built, and a large doctors' office once expected to be open nearby is on hold.